This invention relates generally to electro-mechanical transducers for providing electrical impulses to a signal utilization device upon actuation of the transducer in response to a mechanical force input. When such an apparatus is applied to keyboards, for example, it is desirable to have apparatus in which a uniform signal output occurs when a keyboard transducer is actuated from one position, or state, to another. Such uniformity of output signal vastly reduces the possibility of errors arising when operating signal utilization devices which may be controlled by a keyboard or the like. In capacitance-type transducing apparatus, the problem may be more critical than that previously encountered in mechanical electrical contact devices, although those skilled in the art may understand that considerable effort has been directed toward the development and evolution of reliable consistent transducers for converting mechanical inputs to electrical, or like signals.
Such prior art devices have also attempted to provide a tactile feel when mechanical motion is applied to the transducers to cause a change from one state to another to enable an operator to feel "comfortable" in all substantial respects when operating the same, such as in a numerical or alphabetical keyboard which may be utilized to originate electrical signals related to information to be processed in computers and the like.
It is therefore an object of our invention to provide improved transducing apparatus for converting mechanical motion into a utilizable signal in an economical manner which will satisfy human environmental factors and provide a consistent, uniform output signal to a signal utilization means.